I
rose early as is my want, donned my imperial paisley dressing gown, neatly tied
my ascot, slipped into my red velvet Albert slippers and headed for the
kitchen. Generally I rise before
Mother. She likes to lie abed, seldom rising
before nine in the morning. This morning
was no different.
Once
in the kitchen I took down the Brown Betty teapot from the cabinet, filled it a
quarter full of hot water from the electric kettle, swished it around, and
placed several teaspoons of Lapsang Souchong in the pot. I find a good strong tea very bracing in the
morning. I also prefer my morning cuppa
in a Royal Staffordshire mug, not a dainty cup.
This
morning I had a lot on my mind. Business
has been dreadful the last few years and only by some careful scrimping and
planning have I been able to come through the downturn without laying off
valued employees. Well that’s not
entirely true. I did fire, Henry Widdershins,
that lazy oaf; but only because he was so thoroughly ineffectual. Oh, yes.
I also was able to grant Ophelia Martin an early retirement. Those two things helped retain the balance of
my employees.
Part
of what is bothering me is a business proposition. One of my suppliers informed me that a whole
load of cashmere sweaters was about to drop off the back of one of his
trucks. “Would I be interested in a
bargain price on those sweaters?” Of
course, unspoken, was the fact that his insurance would pay for the purloined
shipment. Years ago I wouldn’t have
hesitated. After all, business is
business.
That
is the problem with reading the Bible; sometimes business isn’t just business,
sometimes its theft, and now it bothers me.
To tell the truth, I find that quite annoying. A conscience is an embarrassing thing to
develop.
Well,
I’ve been reading in James. I like
James; he rather straightforward and tells it like it is. Obviously when the crunch is on, one has to
do the right thing, “faith without works is dead.”[i] I don’t know if I have faith, but at least I
can try to do the right thing.
Now
don’t whisper a word of this to Mother, but I actually prayed for the first
time this morning. After all James said,
“If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask God who gives generously to all without
reproach, and it will be given to him.”[ii]
Well,
I was sitting there mulling all this over when Mother came in.
“Good
morning, Alfred,” said Mother eyeing the open Bible on my lap curiously.
“Yes,
Mother,” said I. “I know that things
have been very difficult economically at the store, but I have decided to give
all of our employees a Christmas bonus this year.”
“Very
nice, Alfred,” said Mother. “That is a
very charitable thing to do.”
“The
King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least
of these my brethren, you did it to me.”[iii]
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